1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pontoon boats that may couple and be driven by a PWC. The invention further relates to pontoon boats having a portion that moves into an open water recess at the rear of the pontoon boat. The invention further relates to an engagement assembly for securing a PWC to such a pontoon boat.
2. Description of Related Art
Pontoon boats are generally flat watercraft rely on pontoons, or air cylinders, to for buoyancy. A standard recreational pontoon boats will be of a rectangular shape and have twin lengthwise hulls or pontoons along the longer sides of the boat. Pontoon boats traditionally are equipped with an outboard engine to power its travel across and within water. They are less costly to purchase and maintain than performance boats but are useful and popular for carrying larger groups of passengers.
The idea to drive a pontoon boat with a smaller craft is addressed in the arts to varying effects and purposes. In some instances, a personal watercraft (PWC) has been described to steer a larger boat or watercraft. U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,150 describes a boat with a docking bay with U-shaped channels to receive a bumper of a PWC. Other examples, such as depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,625 involve a boat with a floor upon which a PWC would substantially moor while driving the larger boat. In other examples found in the art such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,832,348, fixed restraints are deployed to harness the PWC to a boat.
For reasons of cost, maintenance and storage, users of recreational watercraft prefer to own PWC over larger watercraft. When those users travel to water recreation destination such as lakes, they may wish to rent pontoon boats in situ in order to transport groups of people across the lake, but still travel with and utilize their own PWC. PWC have at two standard sizes dictated by the size of its engine, either two-stroke or four-stroke. The larger four-stroke engine is the more prevalent in the current PWC market, but many two-stroke engine PWCs are still utilized in the manner described above. With different sizes can change the dynamics of docking and storing the PWC within the bay of the pontoon boat. Even within the categories of two stroke and four stroke PWCs, there is some variation as to the footprint and profile of the PWCs manufactured over time.
As the above references describe, docking a PWC into the bay of a pontoon boat has a host of challenges. Less understood in the arts is the concept that driving a larger boat with a PWC presents its own set of challenges in water flow dynamics and navigation. Specifically, obstructing the water flow around the engine of the PWC can reduce the power, responsiveness, and overall navigability of the PWC. Mooring the PWC partially or completely upon a plate creates challenges with cavitation. Past solutions in the arts do not provide an easy mechanism for connection or release so that users or operators with little training may safely decouple and use a PWC from the pontoon boat while out on the lake. In sum, the market remains woefully undeveloped and unsatisfied with the solutions offered to dock any PWC to a pontoon boat.
Consequently, there remains a need in the arts of coupling a PWC to a pontoon boat that is safe and relatively simple. There remains further a need for such a pontoon boat to engage a PWC of different sizes. There remains even further a need for the pontoon boat to receive and secure a PWC that allows the PWC to navigate the pontoon boat. With many existing pontoon boats in current use, there is a need to retro-fit such existing boats with an assembly to engage a PWC. Finally, there remains a need to provide a trailer that may carry such a combination pontoon boat and PWC that offers an ease of loading directly into a body of water.
Accordingly, a general objective is to provide a novel pontoon boat for capably and safely receiving a PWC to use the power of the PWC to propel the pontoon boat. Another objective is to provide an assembly for coupling the pontoon boat and PWC that is novel in its approach, simple in use, and more secure than past attempts in the arts. Yet another objective is that the coupling of the PWC to the pontoon boat allows the PWC to propel and navigate in the water without interference by structures under the hull of the PWC. Another objective is to couple any available PWC to a pontoon boat so that its engine, ingrate, impeller, and steering nozzle are positioned appropriately in the water. PWC Finally, an objective is to provide a trailer that offers an ease of loading and unloading for carrying the novel pontoon boat and the PWC.
Other objectives and advantages of this invention will become apparent in the following summary and detailed descriptions.